Jonathan Irons

Jonathan Irons (1996-8 January 2061) was the founder and CEO of the Atlas Corporation from 2035 to 2061. Irons was also the first private corporation leader to be offered a seat on the United Nations Security Council, and was one of the most powerful people in the world in the mid-21st century. Irons eventually changed his focus from profits to policy, and he attempted to attack all of the nations on the UNSC, because he believed that their wars did not work and that all of the world's problems began with them.

Biography
Jonathan Irons was born in 1996 in South Orange, New Jersey, in the United States of America. Irons started a major business in 2035 by founding the Atlas Corporation, a large company that he believed could achieve their goals faster than governments could. Irons proved his worth by repairing the city of Baghdad in Iraq, which had been devastated by suicide bombings and terrorist attacks during the Iraq War of 2003-2011 and the ensuing Sunni and Shia insurgencies. Irons rebuilt the Iraqi capital in five years, making it known as "New Baghdad" - he boasted that he did in five years what most governments could do in fifty. Irons also worked on a private military corporation, using his large profits to equip his soldiers with the latest high-technology firearms, exoskeletal suits, grenades, jetpacks, and other new gear. He trained Atlas troops as Tier-One operatives, making them rival even the most-trained special forces on Earth. Irons was feared by many, because he owed no allegiance to any country, as he was the head of a mercenary corporation more powerful than most countries. His son Will Irons decided to join the US Marine Corps to fight for his country and not his father, although his father sent Atlas mercenaries to assist the Americans in beating back a massive North Korean invasion of Seoul, South Korea in 2054. Will was killed in action, but at Will's funeral ceremony, Irons recruited his friend Jack Mitchell as an Atlas PMC due to his fighting skills.

Raising Mitchell to become a top-notch operative in his company, Irons decided to use him for his own personal ambitions. In 2055, he sent Mitchell and his operatives Gideon and Joker to Nigeria to save Prime Minister Samuel Abidoyo from luddite KVA militants opposed to the new modernization of the world. Mitchell and the team were successful in rescuing the PM and a technological expert, and they managed to escape from the KVA. Secretly, Irons killed the tech expert after he told him that the KVA were planning a terrorist attack in 2056, and allowed the attack to happen. It struck places across the world, and in 2059, he was able to kill KVA leader Joseph "Hades" Chkheidze in Santorini, Greece, which made him very popular. When Hades died, he passed Mitchell a data chip and told him that Irons knew about the attacks, and ex-Spetsnaz teammate Ilona informed Mitchell that he was right. Irons and Gideon entered the room where they were observing the data tape and had them arrested, but they were able to escape from the New Baghdad prison and escape to join the Sentinel Task Force, a force of Tier-One international operatives whose goal was to stop Irons' plans.

Unfortunately for them, Irons was already offered a seat on the United Nations Security Council, the most powerful administrative body on the planet. Irons made a speech in front of the UNSC informing them that he had created a chemical weapon capable of attacking certain ethnic groups ("Manticore"), and told them that their wars did not work. Irons professed his beliefs that he knew what would be perfect for the world, and said that the world's problems began with them. On 15 June 2060, Irons launched a large-scale drone assault on the US 3rd Fleet in harbor at San Francisco, California. Although all of his ships and drones were eventually destroyed, he succeeded in collapsing the Golden Gate Bridge and causing a horrifying amount of damage to the city.

On 8 January 2061, the Sentinels rallied and teamed up with the US 37th Airborne Division in an attack on New Baghdad, with their goal being to kill or capture Irons. Their assault nearly succeeded, but after heavy fighting, Irons dropped his Manticore chemical agents, killing almost all of the Sentinel and American troops in the city. Mitchell, Gideon, and Ilona survived because Irons had injected them with an immunity to the agent while they still worked for Atlas. However, they were captured by Irons along with Major Cormack, the leader of the Sentinel Task Force. The four of them were interned in a prison camp, where Irons disabled Mitchell's prosthetic left arm and mortally wounded Cormack. Gideon and Ilona succeeded in killing the two guards and the four of them escaped as the US bombarded the camp, but Cormack died after he left with them.

Preparing for a final attack, Mitchell, Gideon, and Ilona decided to hunt down Irons. Irons fled from them as New Baghdad was engulfed in battle, and Irons eventually slipped and fell, with Mitchell catching him with his left arm. Irons told Mitchell that he was going to have to pull him up, or they would both fall down; Irons would not let go. In return, Mitchell severed his prosthetic arm and Irons fell to his death into a fire below. But as Irons told Mitchell, the war just began, and that Atlas would become stronger.